1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an impact resistant wrapping system for protecting various fragile articles from shocks and damage, and more particularly to a wrapping means formed of laminated membranes filled with sponge foam or other material which usually assumes a flat state and expands to heighten the cushioning effect when wrapping an article for protection.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For the purpose of wrapping a fragile article, there have been extensively used a variety of wrappings of foamed plastics material having excellent cushioning properties, and packing or padding material of foamed styrol or the like. Since wrapping of this type has the ability of absorbing shock, which in general is in proportion to its volume, wrapping of large size is required for ensuring sufficient cushioning effect, but it is bulky and awkward to use.
As one example of a wrapping for an article to be transported, there has been proposed an inflatable package formed of an air bag having a cylindrical interior space for accommodating the article per Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Public Disclosure No. SHO 54-136985. The air bag is made by folding a double-ply sheet formed of two membranes of synthetic resin. This prior art package is used by inserting the article into the interior space of the air bag and introducing air between the membranes forming the air bag through a small air hole formed in one of the membranes to inflate the air bag.
In this prior art package, since the interior space defined in the air bag is formed in a cylindrical shape, the shape of the article to be wrapped is limited, and therefore, various articles having different shapes cannot aptly be wrapped. Furthermore, this package cannot be reused readily and is of no practical utility.
In Japanese Patent Application Publication No. SHO 63-502099 (corresp. to International Application No. PCT/US86/01989), a protective envelope for containing a fragile article is proposed, in which elastic cushion material is confined in a compressed flat state between airtight two-fold membranes constituting the protective envelope.
Similarly, this prior art protective envelope cannot cope with a variety of articles of different shapes. This is because the envelope is a definite shape and defined by basically sealing the envelope along the edges of the membranes so as to form an upper opening. Thus, this protective envelope cannot be applied to articles having various shapes, and is restricted in capacity for containing the article.